Frontier IndianaAndrew R. L. CaytonÒ. . .[a] graceful, arresting narrative . . .grounded in primary and secondary sources. . .ÓÑChoiceÒ. . .a most compelling book.ÓÑCraig Thompson Friend, Georgetown College Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Winter 1997Ò. . .engagingly written. . .ÓÑCite AB, August 11-18, 1997ÒThe appeal of this bookÑbesides its readable 337 pagesÑis that Cayton focuses on people as well as events, and he doesnÕt give all the press to men, which often happens in books about 18th and 19th century history.ÓÑAnnette Wartel, Palladium-Item, Richmond, Indiana ÒFor all this talk of affection, however, Anna [Symmes] was also stubborn and direct when she knew what she wanted. It was no coincidence that she defied her father in making the one great choice of her life: to marry William Henry Harrison. The Judge had good reason to worry about the twenty-three old officer. Symmes conceded that the lieutenant had Ôunderstanding, prudence, education, &resource in conversation' as well as Ôabout L3000 property' and the Judge wanted Ôthe assistance of some young man in my own arrangements.Õ The problem was that Harrison had Ôno profession but that of arms.Õ Ô[A]bilities he has, what his application may be I have yet to discover.Õ This was all perfectly reasonable. Indeed, the Judge intended to ÔconsultÕ with his daughters about the whole business while Nancy [as the Judge called her] considered HarrisonÕs offer. In the end, it seems, Symmes objected less to Harrison than to the timing of the match. But fathers in late eighteenth-century North America had increasingly less influence over their childrenÕs marriages. Romance and passion were the order of the day. Nancy made her own choice and she made it primarily for love.ÓMost history concentrates on the broad sweep of events, battles and political decisions, economic advance or decline, landmark issues and events, and the people who lived and made these events tend to be lost in the big picture. CaytonÕs lively new history of the frontier period in Indiana puts the focus on people, on how they lived and how they viewed their world and what motivated them. Here are the stories of, among others, Jean-Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes; George Croghan, the ultimate frontier entrepreneur; the world as seen by George Rogers Clark; Josiah Harmar and John Francis Hamtramck; Little Turtle; Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison and William Henry Harrison; Tenskwatawa; Jonathan Jennings; and Calvin Fletcher.Focusing his account on these and other representative individuals, Cayton retells the story of IndianaÕs settlement in a human and compelling narrative which makes the experience of exploration and settlement real and exciting. Here is a book that will appeal to the general reader and scholar alike while going a long way to reinfusing our understanding of history and the historical process with the breath of life itself.A History of the Trans-Appalachian Frontier SeriesÑWalter Nugent and Malcolm Rohrbough, general editorsA Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 1997